Library filed under Icing

Days after several Freeborn County wind turbines had to be shut down after a chunk of ice fell off a blade and landed on a passing semi truck, a family whose home lies within feet of the proposed Freeborn Wind Farm project said they're concerned about something similar happening at their home. ..."I'm sorry but [...] there's no amount of money that's enough comfort for my kids being put in harm's way," he said.

The police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are carrying out a joint investigation, the two authorities confirmed. In a blog post published on 29 January, law firm Thomsons Scotland wrote that the 74-year-old man was a security guard at the wind farm.

Samuel Bonacci, a spokesman for the college, said the ice flew off the turbine’s blades Tuesday morning, landing on the building and a parking lot used by faculty and staff. It broke a hole in the skylight.

When on New Year's Eve he walked along the Mähneweg near Bocholt, a chunk of ice crashed to the ground just a few meters from where he stood. "I've got a huge horror, of course," he says. The approximately 60-centimeter (nearly 2-foot) ice piece had flown down from a 98-meter high wind turbine.

At a special hearing Thursday, representatives from Georgia Mountain Wind appeared before the Vermont Public Service Board to appeal a ruling that wind turbines have violated noise and weather-related specifications listed in the project’s certificate of public good.

Researchers who worked near the 400-foot high wind turbines on peaks above the proposed Balsams ski area say there is reason to be worried about people getting too close: They saw chunks of ice being thrown and found ice craters and broken saplings 930 feet from a turbine.

A hearing officer for the Public Service Board has recommended that Green Mountain Community Wind — the company led by Vermont renewable-energy pioneer David Blittersdorf — be found in violation of its permit for operating wind turbines on Georgia Mountain with iced blades. ...The iced blades produced unusually loud noise, said Melodie McLane.

Cold climate and de-icing technologies are improving the business case for wind power in Canada, but icing prediction and assessment remain problematic for the industry, experts told Wind Energy Update.

Dixville Capital’s attorney is working out an safety plan to address the board’s concern about ice throw and other potential hazards around the Granite Reliable wind towers (owned by Brookfield Power) in the expanded high-elevation ski area, based on an engineer’s report, board attorney Bernie Waugh reported.

In March, the Public Service Board received reports that turbines on Georgia Mountain were operating with dangerous amounts of ice on the blades. The PSB announced this week that it will investigate the allegations.

Warning from the Cogar Volunteer Fire Department: Please beware of large chunks of ice being launched great distance by the wind turbines in our area! Please use extreme caution and stay a safe distance away from them. We have seen 3 wires of new barbed wire fences broken by ice chunks from the blades of these massive machines. The pictures of the ice chunks below were recovered about 125 yds from the base of a turbine about 4:30 pm this afternoon. Much larger and thicker pieces had impacted closer to the base.

Using an industry rule of thumb, the setback for turbines likes those in the North Country would be about 800 feet, says Rene Cattin, a Swiss researcher who studies wind turbines in cold weather. But, Cattin said, his research shows that ice isn’t thrown more than about 500 feet. However, there are safety issues beyond ice throw, issues that could occur year-round.

The resort's redevelopment remains contingent on an expansion of its ski area, which, if enlarged, would be near at least half a dozen Granite Reliable Power (GRP) wind farm turbines in Dixville, on land owned by Bayroot LLC.

Workers are currently trying to find a way to melt some of the ice. They will use helicopters to spray the blades with hot water in an attempt to break up some of the ice, she said. Last year, all 33 of the turbines had to be shut-down for over a month.

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